Ignorance can be fixed but stupid is forever.Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible IF you don't know what you are talking about.

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Jim Beam in one hand, Airedale in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Thats a really old crock! Did he repost it?? In Dixie heartworm is highly ENDEMIC, where I practice > 60% of dogs off preventative are positive and for outdoor only dogs it's 85%. And yep we see dogs die weekly from heartworm disease. Granted they can live for years before complete respiratory and cardiac failure occurs. I am sure you breed dogs that are mosquito and HW proof though. Now in the north and west it isn't as severe but after all the HW positive hood dingos (I saw lots of nearly feral dogs from the inner city of NOLA slated for export back then) they dispersed through the country after Katrina I hear that new endemic pockets have sprung up in areas that previously didn't have a major problem. So as always it's a free country, do what you want but I'm sure gonna use a moxidectin HW preventative on Ava.

lanco wrote:Thats a really old crock! Did he repost it?? In Dixie heartworm is highly ENDEMIC, where I practice > 60% of dogs off preventative are positive and for outdoor only dogs it's 85%. And yep we see dogs die weekly from heartworm disease. Granted they can live for years before complete respiratory and cardiac failure occurs. I am sure you breed dogs that are mosquito and HW proof though. Now in the north and west it isn't as severe but after all the HW positive hood dingos (I saw lots of nearly feral dogs from the inner city of NOLA slated for export back then) they dispersed through the country after Katrina I hear that new endemic pockets have sprung up in areas that previously didn't have a major problem. So as always it's a free country, do what you want but I'm sure gonna use a moxidectin HW preventative on Ava.

No, my dogs are not immune to heartworm. But, this was posted on another list and is something worth reading. Your experiences do differ from my own though for some reason. I placed 14 or 15 dogs recently and other people operate the way most do.....give the dog a continuous supply of medications which have the purpose of killing something the dog may not even have. The result is that everyone took the dogs to the vet. One 8 year old female had a mild case of heartworm. These same people also got an 11 year old male that was negative. The rest varied in age and sex but were all negative. All dogs were born and raised outside, year around, in the geographic center of Calif which is supposed to have a terrible rate of heartworm. 1 out of 15 is is a far cry from your 85%.....but I guess I should read more of what you read instead of what I posted, eh? Aside from that Lanco, I had a dog years ago that was positive and had it treated. Since, Most all the dogs lived 12 to 14 1/2 years and never developed the tell tale cough. Gotta wonder why when I read your post.

Ignorance can be fixed but stupid is forever.Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible IF you don't know what you are talking about.

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Jim Beam in one hand, Airedale in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

Here's the answer to your question hicntry - Heartworm incidence varies greatly, and many areas of California are minimally effected due to the dry conditions. You just have fewer mosquitos to spread the disease.

I do believe I prefaced my statements as pertaining to the confederacy!It takes two thing, mosquitos and temps over 45 degrees Fahrenheit (mean) for a 50 day stretch. If you have those things and a smattering of infected dogs then you need prevention. So the east coast, gulf south, and Midwest need prevention!!!!!I've seen thousands of dogs dead or dying from this HIGHLY preventable disease so it really gets me riled up when people act as though heart worm prevention is a conspiracy to make money!!!! Now from the Rockies west it will be a much more localized issue so you are more likely to get away with not using prevention.

What would I gain from lying about this??? It's confusing brother, there arent 5 guys on this board from my state, I'm under an alias and I never attempt to advertise my services here, I make 95% of my income via salary with only nominal commission so an extra 25 cents on a box of preventative isn't motivating me to lie! And I stated things were different out west.

lanco wrote:What would I gain from lying about this??? It's confusing brother, there arent 5 guys on this board from my state, I'm under an alias and I never attempt to advertise my services here, I make 95% of my income via salary with only nominal commission so an extra 25 cents on a box of preventative isn't motivating me to lie! And I stated things were different out west.

I don't recall anyone singling you out and saying you were lying Lanco. Far from it. The vets here say that this is one of the highest risk areas in the nation to sell their services. You and Miss K seem to think it isn't because of what you have read.....so we must be in agreement that not everone is being honest. I thought you might find the cure in the article interesting also. I recall MissK saying that this kind of treatment is why things become immune to the treatment.

Ignorance can be fixed but stupid is forever.Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible IF you don't know what you are talking about.

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Jim Beam in one hand, Airedale in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

I think you misremembered hicntry, what causes resistance (faster) is giving dogs WITH heart worms preventative instead of treating properly. People who give ivermectin from the farm store at irregular intervals without testing their dogs.

Correct use of preventatives will cause resistance too, it's just a fact of life (life will find a way) but it's much more likely in the previous scenarios.

As for all vets recommending preventative all the time - I did not sell preventative when I lived in Washington state unless the dogs went on vacation to other parts of the country. I recommend (and use) seasonal treatment now, unless there are children in the home and then preventative is recommended year round for roundworm/hookworm prevention, not for heart worn.

As for the "cure" I currently have a dog who's been attempting that methond for three, yes THREE years without success. They started treatment at another clinic and recently moved to my town. Three years is not a cure...

Misskiwi67 wrote:As for the "cure" I currently have a dog who's been attempting that methond for three, yes THREE years without success. They started treatment at another clinic and recently moved to my town. Three years is not a cure...

Well said MissK. .....And I had a yard full of dogs outside for years without treatment with one positive.....that doesn't constitute an epidemic either.....just something a dog might get in the course of living life.

Ignorance can be fixed but stupid is forever.Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible IF you don't know what you are talking about.

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Jim Beam in one hand, Airedale in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOO HOO what a ride!"

It's all about mosquitos (assuming you are not in the arctic) if you have them HW is a problem. Resistance has been greatest to ivermectin based products and that makes sense, they have been around the longest and the original ivermectin heartworm preventative was dosed at the lowest effective point due to idiosyncratic reactions in collies caused by a genetic defect common in the breed. Any preventative in moist, warm mosquito ridden areas is better than none. I like moxidectin based products for my animals based both on experience with prevenative failures in my practice and some raw data I have seen from a major researcher in the field. I think milbemycin is also a good choice. Eventually other avermectins will probably be pressed into service for this, hopefully category wide resistance doesn't occur any time soon. It's a shame really that we don't eradicate this disease, if it were a livestock disease we would have done so years ago.

Heartworms are a very well host adapted parasite, it causes a very slowly progressive insidious disease. In LA dogs wind up with severe infestations and so we see abrupt decompensation and death more frequently than folks who don't live in the swamp.